@*»¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨»*@
##@@$*:»:¨ ¨:»:*$@@##
@@@*:»»::¨ ¨::»»:*@@@
##@@$*:»:¨ ¨:»:*$@@##
@$*»»¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨»»*$@
##@@$*:»:¨ Winds esker ¨:»:*$@@##
##@@$*:»:¨ »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» ¨:»:*$@@##
#@$*:»:¨¨¨ ¨¨¨:»:*$@#
##@@$*:»:¨ There Was This Place That For Two Years ¨:»:*$@@##
@@$:»»:¨¨¨ I Couldn'T Go To. Regardless How Much ¨¨¨:»»:$@@
##@@$*:»:¨ Discussed With Others, Or Pointed Out ¨:»:*$@@##
#@@$$*:»:¨ On Maps, I Could Not Think Of It When ¨:»:*$$@@#
@$::::¨¨¨¨ Alone. I Would Often Travel Past The ¨¨¨¨::::$@
@@@***:»:¨ Fork, Where A Right Turn Would Surely ¨:»:***@@@
##@@$*:»:¨ Take Me There, But Even Then, Something ¨:»:*$@@##
##@@$*:»:¨ Kept Me Away. ¨:»:*$@@##
##@@$*:»:¨ ¨:»:*$@@##
##@@$*:»:¨ When I Finally Got There, After Some ¨:»:*$@@##
##@@$*:»:¨ Heavy Subconscious Battle I Must ¨:»:*$@@##
###@@$:»:¨ Assume, The Place Was Surreal. An ¨:»:$@@###
##@@$*:»:¨ Esker, Like A Needle-Thin Rift Out In ¨:»:*$@@##
##@@$*:»:¨ The Lake, But Ten Meters High And ¨:»:*$@@##
@@$$:::»:¨ Adorned In Birch, Willow, Bracken, And ¨:»:::$$@@
##@@$*:»:¨ Blueberries. ¨:»:*$@@##
@*»:¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨:»*@
##@@$*:»:¨ Walking Atop That Spine, I Came To ¨:»:*$@@##
@$*»:¨¨¨¨¨ Notice The View To Either Side. There ¨¨¨¨¨:»*$@
##@@$*:»:¨ Should Be Shores, Of Course, But I ¨:»:*$@@##
###@$*:»:¨ Didn'T Recognize Them. First Off, They ¨:»:*$@###
@@@@$*:»:¨ Were Much Too Close, As The Lake Should ¨:»:*$@@@@
##@@$*:»:¨ Stretch For A Hundred Meters More On ¨:»:*$@@##
##@@$*:»:¨ Both Sides. But Now I Felt I Could ¨:»:*$@@##
@@@*::»»:¨ Almost Reach Out And Touch Them. And ¨:»»::*@@@
#@@$:»¨¨¨¨ Then, When I Realized Which Shores They ¨¨¨¨»:$@@#
##@@$*:»:¨ Were, I Had To Stop. ¨:»:*$@@##
##@@$*:»:¨ ¨:»:*$@@##
@$::¨¨¨¨¨¨ They Were Of The Right Lake. But This ¨¨¨¨¨¨::$@
#@@$*::»:¨ Lake Is Large, Fractured, And ¨:»::*$@@#
##@@$*:»:¨ Bipartite. Like A Pair Of Lungs Carved ¨:»:*$@@##
##@@$*:»:¨ Into The Granite, And With No Less Than ¨:»:*$@@##
@@*»:¨¨¨¨¨ Five Communities Anchored At Various ¨¨¨¨¨:»*@@
##@@$*:»:¨ Points. And So, Studying These ¨:»:*$@@##
##@@$*:»:¨ Impossibly Close Shores, I Slowly ¨:»:*$@@##
#@@**»¨¨¨¨ Understood Them As Belonging Many Miles ¨¨¨¨»**@@#
@$**:»¨¨¨¨ Away. ¨¨¨¨»:**$@
##@@$*:»:¨ ¨:»:*$@@##
##@@$*:»:¨ I Examined The Ridge, The Treeline ¨:»:*$@@##
@$$::¨¨¨¨¨ Above. Was This What You Saw Opposite, ¨¨¨¨¨::$$@
@$$:::::¨¨ From Those Other Shores? I Couldn'T ¨¨:::::$$@
@@**»»:¨¨¨ Remember. ¨¨¨:»»**@@
@@@$$*:»:¨ ¨:»:*$$@@@
##@@$*:»:¨ Carrying Forward, On The Very Tip Of ¨:»:*$@@##
###@$*:»:¨ The Esker, I Found The Ruins Of Some ¨:»:*$@###
##@@$*:»:¨ Old Building. There Were Overgrown ¨:»:*$@@##
##@@$*:»:¨ Marble Staircases, Stone Floors Beneath ¨:»:*$@@##
@*::¨¨¨¨¨¨ The Moss, And Strange Slabs Inserted ¨¨¨¨¨¨::*@
##@@$*:»:¨ Into The Slope Like Dams Against The ¨:»:*$@@##
#@@@$*:»:¨ Ground Itself. ¨:»:*$@@@#
@*»»:¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨:»»*@
##@@$*:»:¨ Sitting There, I Could See Across The ¨:»:*$@@##
##@@$*:»:¨ Narrowed Lake My Entire Path To Where I ¨:»:*$@@##
##@@$*:»:¨ Sat: From The Stairwell Of My House, ¨:»:*$@@##
@@@@$*:»:¨ Through The Old Woods Behind The Tile ¨:»:*$@@@@
##@@$*:»:¨ Factory, The Bridge Over Route ¨:»:*$@@##
@@@@$*:»:¨ Twenty three And Then Back Under It, ¨:»:*$@@@@
@****»»:¨¨ Through The Fancy Villas, Over The ¨¨:»»****@
##@@$*:»:¨ Fields, And Then That Right Turn At The ¨:»:*$@@##
@@$:»¨¨¨¨¨ Fork. ¨¨¨¨¨»:$@@
###@$*:»:¨ ¨:»:*$@###
#@@@$*:»:¨ And Then The Stairs Up On The Ridge. ¨:»:*$@@@#
###@$*:»:¨ Thinking Back, This Was Probably It. ¨:»:*$@###
@*»¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ Hidden In A Grove, There Were Stairs ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨»*@
###@@$*:»: Much Like The Ones I Currently Sat On, :»:*$@@###
@@@$$*:»:¨ Old And Worn Down, That Lead You Up ¨:»:*$$@@@
##@@$*:»:¨ Onto The Esker. The Point Of Entry. Had ¨:»:*$@@##
@@$$$*:»:¨ I Insted Opted To Walk The Path At Its ¨:»:*$$$@@
##@@$*:»:¨ Foot, I'M Sure My Experience Would'Ve ¨:»:*$@@##
##@@$*:»:¨ Been Different Indeed. ¨:»:*$@@##
##@@$*:»:¨ ¨:»:*$@@##
@@@@$*:»:¨ »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» ¨:»:*$@@@@
##@@$*:»:¨ ¨:»:*$@@##
@@$:»¨¨¨¨¨ On The Lake, There Were People In ¨¨¨¨¨»:$@@
##@@$*:»:¨ Boats. I Wondered, Could They Even See ¨:»:*$@@##
##@@$*:»:¨ Me? If I Shouted, Would They Turn To ¨:»:*$@@##
@$*::»¨¨¨¨ Stare Right Through Me? ¨¨¨¨»::*$@
###@$*:»:¨ ¨:»:*$@###
##@@$*:»:¨ ¨:»:*$@@##
###@@$*»:¨ ¨:»*$@@###
##@@$*:»:¨ ¨:»:*$@@##
###@@*:»:¨ ¨:»:*@@###